


stars shine down (on us and our love)

by treescape



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Leia and Cara are matchmakers extraordinaire, M/M, Romance, Slow Burn, The Mandalorian (TV) Season 2 Spoilers, additional characters to be tagged as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28593396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treescape/pseuds/treescape
Summary: Luke’s first thought was that he must have misheard. He blinked once, and then again, as if that would somehow sort out his hearing, and stared at the flickering hologram in confusion. “Youwhat?”“I hired you a bounty hunter,” Leia said again, with the measured poise of one who dealt with theatrics on a too-regular basis––though never, of course, from Luke. Even from a dozen systems away, he could practically feel the amusement that lurked behind her eyes, a light music of fondness and delight. “He should be there this evening.”Or, Leia hires Din to help out at Luke’s academy for a few months. A Dinluke rom-com ensues.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker
Comments: 122
Kudos: 591





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There are two main points of divergence from season two in this. First, on Tython, Grogu was unable to reach out to Luke before he was kidnapped, so Luke doesn't show up in the last episode. Second, the darktroopers don't come back after being jettisoned into space, so Din and the others are able to get off Gideon's ship themselves.

Luke’s first thought was that he must have misheard. He blinked once, and then again, as if that would somehow sort out his hearing, and stared at the flickering hologram in confusion. “You _what_?”

“I hired you a bounty hunter,” Leia said again, with the measured poise of one who dealt with theatrics on a too-regular basis—though never, of course, from Luke. Even from a dozen systems away, he could practically feel the amusement that lurked behind her eyes, a light music of fondness and delight. “He should be there this evening.”

“Apparently I heard you the first time.” Luke scrubbed his hands over his face, brisk and bracing, and wished he’d taken the time to down more than one cup of caf that morning. The sun’s rays had barely even crested the horizon, greeting air that was crisp with the undertones of spring, and already he had the sneaking suspicion that he should probably just call it a day. He carded his fingers back through his hair, and then cupped his chin in his hands, elbows braced on the kitchen table of his cabin on Yavin. It served both as his headquarters and as home for himself and his students, for now. “And exactly what need do I have for a bounty hunter, Leia?” 

He was almost afraid to ask, truth be told, but Leia was sure to tell him anyway.

Best to get it over with.

“You were just saying the other week that you could use some help around the academy.” Leia’s voice was calm and collected and far too reasonable for this hour of the morning, a surreal counterpart to the absurdity of her words.

Luke fought the distinct urge to bury his face in his hands again, but only because that would make it harder to glare. “You know this isn’t what I meant!”

“I’m afraid I only know one Jedi,” Leia said, wry and pointed, but with a softness and a sympathy to her eyes that made Luke sigh and shake his head. He hadn’t meant for her to take his words last week so seriously; he’d really only been venting. He loved his little fledgling academy with a fierceness that had quickly woven its way through sinew and bone.

It was only that sometimes, when there were five tiny faces watching his every move, or in the quiet hours beyond dusk when he occasionally had a moment to think, Luke wondered if he was truly up to the task. It would be nice, he thought wistfully, to have another Jedi who could help him flounder his way through. Leia gave him every bit of advice and help that she could, but it wasn’t fair for him to rely on her all the time.

The corners of Leia’s lips ticked down for a moment. “I’m sorry I can’t spend more time on Yavin,” she said, and Luke felt his eyes widen instantly in horror. His words almost fell over one another in their haste to get out.

“Leia, you know I would never blame you for—”

“I know, Luke,” she said gently, and Luke felt his shoulders sag in relief. “You would never ask me to stay full-time. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help you.”

“By sending me a bounty hunter,” Luke said dubiously.

“Trust me, he comes very highly recommended. He’ll be able to help with weapons training and more general lessons, and he’ll be another set of hands around.” A beat, and then, with a mischievous cast to her face: “And he has a _very_ nice voice.”

Luke sighed. “Leia. Please tell me this isn’t some matchmaking scheme of yours.” He hardly had time to eat breakfast in the mornings; how did Leia think he had time for—for _nice voices_?

Leia very studiously ignored him. “His contract is only for three months, but I hope it will give you at least a little bit of breathing room, Luke.” It was sweet, and it made Luke smile instinctively at her, even if he did suspect that she was up to something. “And who knows. Maybe you’ll convince him to stay longer.”

“ _No_ , Leia,” he groaned. “There will be no romance, I promise you that.” He glanced out the window opposite him, at the sun that was inching incrementally into the sky, and the grass wet with the fading memory of last night’s early spring frost, and the corner of the little dojo he had built for training the younglings. The day would soon be in full swing, and he had a list of things a mile long that needed doing. “Why couldn’t you at least have told me sooner? Like, oh, _before_ you hired him?”

“And have you figure out way to get rid of him before he’s even arrived?” she asked with raised brows. “Not in this galaxy, Luke.” She glanced over her shoulder briefly and then turned back to him, fixing him with a steady look. “I have to go, I’m afraid. I’ll talk to you soon. And Luke—please be nice.”

“I’m always nice!” Luke protested, and then, before she could turn off her communicator, “Wait! You didn’t even give me his name!”

Leia paused, hand hovering in the air midway to the off button, a considering look on her face. “You know, he didn’t actually give me a name. All he said when I asked is that people call him ‘Mando.’” At Luke’s incredulous gaze, Leia grinned. “Oh, did I forget to mention? He’s a Mandalorian.”

\---

What little Luke knew about Mandalorians was a jumble of hearsay and history and lore—and some of it pretty ancient lore, at that, gleaned from scrolls and texts during his ongoing study of the Jedi Order. Warriors, or pacifists, or timeworn enemies of the Jedi—Force, for all Luke could tell, maybe they’d been all of that at once. Maybe they still were.

Well, maybe he'd be able to learn more when the Mandalorian arrived, though he'd have to think about that later. After Leia's image disappeared, Luke hardly had time to take two breaths together before Elix bounded into the kitchen, Kir'i hot on his heels.

“Master Luke! Aida is trying to sneak the practice sabers again!” he said indignantly, with all the outrage of his seven years. His lekku quivered, as blue as the sea, and his wide brown eyes wanted to know exactly what Luke was going to do about it.

Probably Leia had planned it this way, Luke thought ruefully. By the time this Mandalorian bounty hunter had arrived, Luke would be so worn out from trying to shepherd his small group of apprentices through the day that he’d hardly have the energy to blink, let alone argue.

Maybe he _did_ need help after all.

Still, he didn’t see what a bounty hunter with a three month contract was going to be able to do about the fact that Luke couldn’t be everywhere at once. There was no need for this bounty hunter to waste his time. Luke would simply tell the man that he was free to go, all duties of the contract released, and find a way to pay Leia back for the cost of it himself.

_Kriff, but it must have been a lot._

The day passed as quickly as days always did, here, a whirlwind of meditation and saber practice and galactic history. Luke’s academy had only properly been in place for a little over a year now, but some days, it felt like they were starting to settle into a workable rhythm.

He could only thank the Force that this seemed to be one of those days.

And if he was for the most part too busy to spare much thought for Leia’s schemes, every now and then he cast a glance through the trees towards the small clearing he used as a makeshift spaceport and rehearsed his polite dismissal in his mind.

\---

The ship touched down not long after the children had finally gone to sleep, some couple hours after the sun had sought its own bed. Even now, after so many years, Luke sometimes instinctively looked for the setting of a second sun that had never risen in the first place. Maybe that was why the twin glow of engines in the night tugged at something deep within him.

He couldn’t make out much of the ship beyond the glare of those engines, and the glance of starlight off of windows, and the indistinct sweep of a bulky frame. It landed in a familiar rush of sound that drowned out the easy rustle of wind in the leaves. For a moment, he weighed the thought of making his way down to the clearing, but he hated to leave the children alone, and Leia would have given the man directions.

And at the very least, Luke could offer the bounty hunter a warm meal and a bed to sleep in for the night. Leia wouldn’t have sent him if she didn’t have reason to trust him absolutely.

So instead, Luke waited just outside the open door of his cabin, light spilling out into the murk, and counted out the moments that it should take the bounty hunter to wind his way up the trail in the dark.

But after a few seconds, he frowned, because where he had expected one life signature to disembark from the ship, there were two, and one of them—

Luke almost panicked, for an instant, thinking that somehow one of the children had managed to slip past him and make their way down to the clearing, but no, they were all still within the cabin, though he quickly realized he had other problems to worry about there. He turned to see a small face framed by blonde curls pop out the front door, craning to peer around him.

“What’s going on, Master Luke?” Aida asked, and Luke sighed. It had been too much to hope that none of the children would awaken at the noise. At least D’arial and Elix would sleep through just about anything.

“Wait here,” he said firmly, and then turned back to face the approaching life forces and took a few steps further from the cabin. Maybe this wasn’t the bounty hunter at all. Maybe this was another parent seeking to see their child trained, someone one of his allies had directed to him.

Someone who needed his help.

But no, that was definitely a Mandalorian materializing out of the trees. The light from Luke’s cabin and the moonlight and the stars all caught on the curves of his helmet, both elegant and functional at once, but Luke barely registered it.

Because there, peeking out from a small satchel cast over the Mandalorian’s shoulder, was a tiny green face that shook Luke to the core.

“The princess said that if I help you, you can give me the location of a Jedi,” the Mandalorian said by way of greeting, coming to a stop a few feet away from Luke, and—

Force, gods, and stars above, he had a _very_ nice voice, low and even and captivating. It was weighty in the manner of mountains, or the first heavy fall of snow, or the endless expanse of the night sky. It was enough to reach even through Luke’s shock.

“Did she, now,” Luke said, closing his eyes briefly as he began to compose a tirade to Leia in his head. He opened them again, and looked from that tiny green face up to the implacable helmet and then back down to that face again. There was the feather-light touch of a mind reaching out curiously through the Force. “Why don’t you both come inside so we can get this sorted out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I'm not sure quite how many parts there will be to this yet, but there are plenty of romcom shenanigans to come :) I hope you enjoyed this first chapter!
> 
> I'm [treescape](https://treescape.tumblr.com/) on tumblr if you ever want to come say hi!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“His name is Luke,”_ the princess had said, her voice as matter-of-fact as stars in a fathomless sky. _“Anything else he wants to tell you is his to tell.”_ Din had supposed that was fair; he’d figured anyone hiding out on an uninhabited moon in the Outer Rim was bound to value their privacy.

Din remembered every contract he’d ever taken, even the ones that had hardly seemed worth the effort of taking in the first place. It was smart business, for a bounty hunter who wanted to stay alive, let alone one who wanted to stay in the trade. Every protection detail, every bail skipper, every petty criminal—each job was filed meticulously in his head, just a brief thought away from full recall.

This one, he felt certain, would go down as the strangest, but he probably should have expected that. Cara had seemed just a little too satisfied with the whole situation when she commed a few days ago to say that the Princess of Alderaan had a deal for him.

 _“His name is Luke,”_ the princess had said, her voice as matter-of-fact as stars in a fathomless sky. _“Anything else he wants to tell you is his to tell.”_ Din had supposed that was fair; he’d figured anyone hiding out on an uninhabited moon in the Outer Rim was bound to value their privacy. So long as the man truly _did_ know the location of a Jedi, Din hadn’t cared how deep the cloak of obscurity he donned. This job, after all, was not about making friends. Din would obtain the information he had been promised, deliver Grogu to his training, and return to Yavin 4 to discharge his half of the contract.

It would doubtless be a long three months, but in the end, it was a miniscule price to pay for Grogu’s safety. If there was one thing Din had come to terms with in the last couple of weeks, it was that even with Gideon in custody, Grogu would always be an irresistible target for the remnants of the Empire. Din would fight to his last breath to keep him safe, and then keep fighting still, but he couldn’t afford to kid himself.

Din wouldn’t live forever, and Grogu—

Well, Grogu very well might, or as near to as made no difference against the abrupt spark of Din’s own lifespan. Din would do what he must so that the child might protect himself; it was a charge laid upon him by love as much as it was by honour or by creed, and he would execute it as faithfully as he knew how.

Of course, these days, things so rarely went according to plan. He had the unfamiliar weight of the darksaber in his pack as proof of _that_ , for all that he was distinctly trying not to think about it.

And then there was Luke.

The man sitting across from him in the small, comfortable study was as unexpected as daylight on Umbara. He shone with an earnestness down to the toes of his soft black boots, the kind that couldn’t really be faked, but Din double-checked just to be safe.

It was always possible he’d misheard.

“ _You’re_ the Jedi.”

Wide blue eyes blinked at him almost sheepishly, and there was a tilt to the man’s chin that somehow managed to be wry and apologetic at once. The soft play of light across the curve of his cheeks and the straight line of his nose felt otherworldly, somehow, and yet every rueful grimace and shake of his head grounded him in a way that made him seem the realest thing in the universe.

“I’m afraid my sister is playing a joke,” Luke said in explanation, as if that cleared up anything at _all_. As if it didn’t launch Din into the midst of another sea of implications altogether.

The princess had said nothing of brothers, though he supposed he could see it in Luke’s face now that he looked.

But what the _kriff_ was the Prince of Alderaan doing in the middle of nowhere on Yavin 4?

“So you see,” Luke continued, hands clasped on his knees as he leaned forward, his voice coming before Din could even truly begin to process what the Jedi Prince had revealed in the last five minutes alone. “Now you don’t need to feel obligated to stay.”

Din shook his head slowly and shifted a little in his chair, a lightly padded thing that managed both function and comfort with an understated ease. The slight creak of leather and beskar drew Grogu’s gaze from across the room, where a human girl and a young Wookiee were in the process of teaching him some sort of clapping game. Din lifted a hand in reassurance and then considered Luke carefully to give himself a moment to think.

“It doesn’t work that way,” he finally said. “You’re not my client. The princess would have to release me from the contract.” That had been done deliberately on her part, Din was pretty sure. Usually when someone made a contract on someone else’s behalf, they simply stood in as proxy.

Leia Organa Solo had known that her brother would try to release Din from his contract, and had taken steps to prevent it.

“So you’re telling me that in exchange for the location of a Jedi, you agreed to help out at my school for three months. Except that it turns out that my school _is_ the location of the Jedi.”

Din wondered what Luke would say about Gideon, and the darksaber, and Bo-Katan, and Mandalore, and—and a million other things, really, that might or might not be tangentially related to this contract. He resisted the temptation to let his lips press into a thin line, one that Luke wouldn’t be able to see anyway but might leave its traces in his voice.

Such things were not the business of this Jedi.

“That about sums it up.”

“Then how am I _not_ your client?” Luke asked in disbelief. “ _I’m_ the Jedi. _I’m_ the one who was supposed to give you the information. And apparently _I’m_ the one you’re going to be here helping.”

Din shrugged.

“Yeah,” Luke sighed in agreement, but if his voice held a hint of fond frustration, there was nothing at all of anger in it. “She’s good at that.” He grumbled something under his breath, the sound soft like thunder on Arkanis in summer, and Din had the distinct impression that, angry or not, the Princess of Alderaan would be hearing from her brother sometime _very_ soon. Luke ran his hands through his hair, bronze and gold fluffing up around his fingers; the flesh of his left hand, callused in the way of fighters and soldiers, stood in counterpoint to the dull gleam of leather on his right. “Look, I’m really sorry about all of this.”

“I don’t mind,” Din said, and it was the truth. He had suspicions forming about exactly what had happened, and it rendered annoyance and resignation nothing but words. He looked over at Grogu again to find the child struggling to stay awake, his eyes sleepily following the other two children as they tapped out increasingly intricate rythyms with their hands. “I’ve been looking for a Jedi who will train him for months. I would have looked the rest of my life, if I’d had to. Three months is fine.”

Luke simply watched them for a time in silence, eyes occasionally shifting from Din to Grogu and back again, and Din wondered just what it was the Jedi saw, if somehow his own tiredness and growing desperation were reflected in the glint of his beskar.

“Alright,” Luke finally said, his voice quiet but firm, like the rise of the sun after terrors at night. “If you want to stay, I guess that’s another thing entirely. But we’re going to make our own deal. I’ll train the child, and you can stay the three months to help him settle in. After that, what you choose to do is up to you. You’ll be welcome to stay with the child or to leave as you wish.”

Except it wouldn’t be up to him, not really; there was a mountain of things that waited for Din on the other side of three months. Bo-Katan. The darksaber. Mandalore.

A destiny, Cara had suggested that day aboard Gideon’s cruiser, which was ridiculous. Cara had been half-joking when she’d said it, words lilting with the humour of camaraderie.

But at the end of the day, responsibility didn’t carry any less gravity than fate.

Well, right now he had three months waiting for him. Three months to say goodbye and to ensure that Grogu would be safe. Three months to figure out what he was going to do about everything else.

He’d take it.

Din held out his right hand, vambrace glinting in the light. The Jedi’s proposal really wasn’t any different from the contract Din had already made, but he could understand the desire to have an understanding of their own, sealed by their own voices and intent. Luke didn’t hesitate, the single leather glove he wore meeting the worn lines of Din’s own as fingers clasped in agreement.

“Deal,” Din said.

\---

The room Luke led them to was small but comfortably-appointed, with a sturdy desk and chair in one corner and a squat chest of drawers beside the bed. Din wondered if Luke had many guests, or if this was a room that was meant to be taken by a student, one day.

He supposed that for now it would house both.

Once Luke left with a promise that he was just down the hall if they needed anything, Din settled a drowsy Grogu on the bed, tucking a corner of the light green and black quilt around his tiny frame. Starlight was visible through the large window across from them, the curtains pulled back at its edges, but he left it for now. It didn’t appear to bother Grogu, and it wasn’t often that Din had the chance to spend much time with the stars planetside. Somehow, they seemed almost close enough to touch, even closer than they felt in space. For just a moment, he felt the urge to strip his gloves from his hands and reach out to brush the sky with his fingertips.

Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed and addressed the child who had become as his son. “Well, I guess this is home now, kid.”

Grogu struggled to blink up at him, eyelids weighted down with the sure approach of sleep, and Din did pull off his gloves so he could rest a hand on Grogu’s head.

“Your new teacher seems nice.”

There was a sleepy noise in response, and Din chuckled.

“Sorry. Go to sleep. I’m sure tomorrow will be a busy day.”

He waited a moment to make sure Grogu had well and truly fallen asleep, and then he crossed to the desk and pulled his personal comlink out of his satchel. He made sure the volume was turned to low so as not to wake the child, angled his own body so that the light of the hologram wouldn’t be a disturbance either, and punched in a code.

It was well into the middle of the night on Yavin, but on Nevarro it would still be early afternoon.

When Cara’s face flickered into view, she smiled in greeting and raised one eyebrow at him. “So how’s Yavin?” she drawled.

“You know how Yavin is,” he replied, noncommittal.

“Look,” Cara said, proving his suspicions right, and appraised him for a moment before continuing. “The way I see it is, you get to spend the next three months on a tropical moon with your son and a cute Jedi.”

“So you did know he’s a Jedi.”

Cara shrugged, the movement dulled and slightly blurred by technology, but still unmistakably Cara. “Not until a few days ago. If I’d known before, I would have done everything in my power to track him down for you.”

He nodded in response, and trusted her to read the layers of it––his acknowledgement, and his thanks, and the depth of friendship that made her words not a debt to be repaid but a gift.

“So did you call just to yell at me?” Cara asked, hologram flickering again as she sat back in her chair.

“No,” Din said simply. “I called to thank you.”

Cara smiled, sharp and pleased and understanding across the expanse of space between them. “Any time, Mando.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of the wonderful comments on the first chapter. They mean the world to me! I hope you enjoyed the second chapter! :)
> 
> I'm [treescape](https://treescape.tumblr.com/) on tumblr if you ever want to come say hi!


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